The recent decision of Midson v Workers Compensation
Commission & Ors (No 2) [2017] NSWSC 147 makes it clear
that in circumstances where a party files a submitting appearance
and takes no active role in proceedings, Courts will be hesitant to
award costs against that party, even if the application is
successful.
Background
Mr Midson suffered a psychological injury during his employment,
due to workplace harassment. He subsequently sustained a severe
hand injury, which also impacted his psychological wellbeing and
was resolved through a work injury damages payment. He then made a
claim for workers' compensation benefits, arising from the
harassment. Following this claim, Mr Midson was referred to an
approved medical specialist (AMS) who determined that he had a 15%
whole person impairment (WPI) arising from the injury, after
deducting 1.7% WPI pursuant to s 323 under the Psychiatric
Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS)—on the basis that it was
difficult to determine the
